


Playing the Waiting Game

by Somebodytell_them



Series: Reevaluate yourself [4]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Fighting, Gen, Homophobia, Hurt, M/M, Stabbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 21:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30095682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somebodytell_them/pseuds/Somebodytell_them
Summary: On a night out, Carlos and TK run into a group of homophobes and someone ends up in the hospital why the other ends up playing the waiting game.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Reevaluate yourself [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840171
Comments: 1
Kudos: 153





	Playing the Waiting Game

Tk and Carlos 

The first thing Paul saw upon exiting the truck was blood. There was a trail of it leading into the alley. Hesitantly following, he turned the corner and found TK on top of Carlos doing chest compressions. He was sobbing and covered in what he would guess was Carlos’ blood. Nancy and Tommy squeezed by him, and lord was he glad both Probie and Owen were off tonight. Judd looked sickly and Marjan looked like she was moments away from crying at the sight. Paul was barely keeping himself together. 

“Tk, you have to move so we can help him.” Tommy spoke to him softly, like you would a small child, and gestured for Judd and Paul to move him. He and Judd grabbed an arm, gently pulling at the man who practically collapsed when he was pulled away. The heart wrenching sound that escaped TKs throat would forever haunt him. 

He wouldn’t let go of Judd, just sinking to the ground, his eyes not leaving Carlos’ lifeless body. “There’s so much blood and I tried to stop it, I tried. I started compressions and tried to stop the bleeding but there was so much blood. I did compressions but I broke a rib. I heard it but I had to keep going. I had to.” Judd moved around, grabbing TKs face to make him look at him instead of Carlos. 

“Tk, what happened?” It took a moment, but he finally focused on Judd. He looked at the man for just a moment before he zoned out again, not looking at anything. 

“We got jumped, headed to the Uber. He protected me and they just wouldn’t stop hitting him. They stabbed him.” Tk looked back up at Judd, his eyes wide and terrified. 

“Is he going to die?” It’s a rule at a scene you don’t tell the loved ones a yes or no on whether or not a loved one will die, especially if it looks bad enough. Tk knew this, but having his suspicions confirmed he just broke down screaming, looking as if he was going to puke when they picked up Carlos’ lifeless body. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Andrea and Gabriel arrived at the hospital per the phone call from Carlos’ partner Rachel, they realized they weren’t the only ones waiting. Owen Strand was there, the firehouse captain Gabriel met when they were hunting down the missing paramedics, as well as the entire 126 firefighters and paramedics. He expected TK to be there they hadn’t had a chance for a proper introduction yet. Before he could ask though, he spotted him sitting in the corner with two firefighters, a young woman with a hijab and the man he knew as Judd from the original 126 crew. They were cleaning blood off of him while he sat frozen, just staring at the wall.Another man was putting bandages on TKs head and arm, talking softly to him even though TK didn’t even acknowledge him. Gabriel moved to go to him when he was stopped.

It was a short black man with the name Strickland on his uniform. “They haven’t been able to get a word out of him since we got here.” 

“Why? What happened?” TK wasn’t in uniform, just wearing a blue button up and jeans ruined from the blood. Strickland cast a glance towards TK, jutting his head for Gabriel and Andrea to follow him. They went down the hall to the drink machines before he stopped, turning to face them.

“Now I don’t know if you know but it’s going to come out eventually. They were on a date, and walking to meet an Uber when they were jumped. Carlos ended up stabbed before the assailants ran off and TK worked on him until we got there. When we found him he was sobbing, doing chest compressions and trying to keep your son’s heart beating.” Andrea put a hand to her mouth, already crying and Gabriel didn’t know what to feel. 

“What’s your name son?”

“Paul Strickland.” 

“Paul, I know about TK and Carlos, my son is not very good at hiding his affections for that man.” Paul chuckled weakly, nodding his head in agreement. 

“Were you there?” Andrea looked him, noticing how tired he looked. 

“Yes ma’am, me Judd, and Marjan were on shift. That’s who’s trying to get TK out of shock right now.” They both nodded, and turned back to the waiting room, Andrea only pausing to take Paul’s hand. 

“Thank you. I know you’re friends and that couldn’t have been easy.” Paul just nodded and made his way over to TK, joining the two in trying to get TK to eat something.

Gabriel and Andrea sat next to Owen, Andrea taking the man’s hand and praying alongside him. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Marjan sighed in relief when TK finally looked at her, but the look on his face made her kind of wish he didn’t. He looked haunted, like his worst dream was coming true. “Honey you gotta eat something.”she whispered, handing him a saltine cracker and a water bottle. He took them both, still looking dazed as the shock wore off. He quietly nibbled on the cracker, getting just a few down before he looked down at his shirt and started crying. 

Marjan wasted no time pulling the boy into a tight hug, resting her chin on the top of his head. He started talking through the sobs, his voice hoarse. “I thought he was dead. I-they wouldn’t stop. They just kept hitting him and yelling.” She noticed Carlos’ parents, she couldn’t remember their names, coming over and she could have sworn TK quit breathing when he looked at his boyfriend’s parents. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, pulling away from Marjan to look at them. “I tried to help but I couldn’t get free, they pinned me to the wall and they just kept hitting them and all I could do was scream.” He was panicking, his words coming out quicker and closer together and honestly he looked a little green. He never broke eye contact with Carlos’ dad and that’s probably because his face was easier to look at than Carlos’ mom’s. “He just kept antagonizing them, why? Why did he do that?” He tried to speak again but the words got caught in his tears as Carlos’ mom moved to hug him. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Shh, it’s ok hijo, it’s ok. You saved him, it’s ok.” TKs sobs were loud and soul crushing, but Carlos parents just held him, crying with him. 

Marjan had to look away to keep herself from crying as well. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It’d taken two hours but Judd managed to get TK to agree to change. He refused to go to the bathroom alone though, so Judd and Nancy stood guard outside while Owen helped his son into some clean clothes. Some of the nurses were looking at them funny as they all went mother Hen on TK but he was like everyone’s baby brother. 

Plus, who were they to judge someone’s PTSD? He still couldn’t use a grill for fear the flame would get too big, and he still jumped every time a car backfired. Nancy herself couldn’t stand calls with loud music, and she was petrified of the dark. Each member of the 126 had their own issues and the little things they did at the firehouse reflected that, so if TK needed his friends to stand guard while he changed after just getting jumped and watching his boyfriend almost die? Hell, Judd would stand here all night.

He startled out of his thoughts when the bathroom door opened and Tk came out in a pair of black pants, black sneakers, and a grey APD tshirt. “I’ll take these to the car for you son.” Owen patted his son on the shoulder, turning to leave when TK stopped him. 

“Throw them away.” Owen turned, looking confused. There was a two hundred dollar pair of shoes in that bag. Judd remembered making fun of TK for buying them, but secretly thought it was adorable the way TK wanted to show them off, like a kid. 

“You sure son? I can get the stains out.” Tk just shook his head, eyes trained to the floor. 

“It’s not about the blood, they’re ruined. Just throw them away.” Owen held his hands up in surrender, backing up and tossing the bag in the garbage can, and Judd noticed TKs sigh of relief. He couldn’t blame him, even if Owen could get the stains out he wouldn’t want to even look at them again. 

Nancy corralled the group back to the waiting room, where Grace, Charles, and Gwen showed up, ready to collect people. Judd watched as Tommy, Probie and Nancy hugged TK and left, promising to come back later. 

Paul and Marjan left with Gwen and Owen, the man kissing his son on the forehead and telling TK to call him if needed. Tk looked like he wanted to beg someone to stay with him, not that Gabriel and Andrea were bad people, but they couldn’t give TK the comfort he needed. Judd felt horrible leaving him, every instinct telling him to park his ass next to his brother. He just watched him say goodbye, getting closer and closer to telling his wife to just come back and collect him tomorrow. 

Grace, ever the Angel, crouched in front of TK, leaning up to cup his face. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to come home with us could I?” Tk just shook his head, trying to keep his voice steady. “I can’t leave him.” She sighed, tapping his knee. 

“I know honey, so I’ll be back with a few blankets and some food. If you ain’t going home, neither am I.” Tk opened his mouth, most likely to argue but one look from Grace and he shut up. She turned to the Reyeses, offering them a kind smile. 

“I’ll be back momentarily, do y’all need anything while I’m gone? I’ll make sure to get y’all a blanket too.” Gabriel shook his head, standing up. “We need to go home, we left our other children and grandchildren at home. We’ll just come back in the morning.” They said their goodbyes and left as well. 

Judd turned to follow Grace out the door when TKs voice stopped them. “Actually, can one of you stay with me? I don’t want to be alone.” He looked back at Grace, ready to forfeit a shower when she tossed him the keys. 

“The blankets are in the first hall closet and bring me a change of clothes for tomorrow please. Take a shower and call when you’re on your way back so we can tell you what take out to get.” He didn’t even have time to agree before she plopped herself into the chair next to TK, taking his hand. 

He chuckled on his way out the door, mumbling to himself. “God I love that woman.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tk and Grace sat in comfortable silence for about an hour and a half, when suddenly while She was texting Judd at McDonalds and requesting a frappe, TK started speaking. 

“Thank you for staying with me, keeping me from doing something stupid.” Grace put her phone down and grabbed TKs hand again, making him look at her. 

“Why did you ask one of us to stay? You knew we wouldn’t be gone long.” Tk avoided her eyes, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

“Because I’m weak.” He whispered, shying away when she moved to rub his back. 

“You’re not weak for asking for help honey.” He scoffed, pulling his hand away to bury his head in his palms. “I needed a sitter for two hours because I knew the second you left me alone I’d go hunting some pills. That makes me weak Grace. Carlos could die and here I am wanting to get high! I’m scared to leave this damn hospital because I know when I do, chance is I’ll be the next person you find in an alley.” She shook her head, pulling him into her and rubbing his hair. 

“You’re not weak TK. It’s completely understandable that in this situation you just want to not feel. The fact that you kept away from that by any means necessary, even a buddy, means that you are stronger TK! It means you’ll do whatever it takes to not go down that road again even when you’re going through something traumatic.” They stayed like that until Judd arrived with McNuggets, and TK barely finished his food before he was curled into Judd’s side, sound asleep. 

She watched her husband with TK, smiling to herself when he fell asleep with his head on top the younger man’s, and if she had the means to snap a few pictures before curling into Judd’s other side, well who could blame her?

-.-.-.-.-.-

_“Tk run!”Two men were holding him against the wall while three more just tore into Carlos, hitting him, kicking him and one guy even spit on him. They thought it was funny, laughing at Carlos’ groans and TKs cries._

_“Please! Please just leave him alone! Please!” He tried breaking free, fighting them but all they got him was his head slammed into the brick so hard it was dizzying. He could feel the_ _blood running down the back of his shirt but the tall guy pulled out a knife and headed to Carlos._

_“NO! NO!”_

_“Hold him up boys!” They were supporting most of Carlos’ weight, and Tk could do nothing but watch in horror as he stabbed him three times. He moved to stab him again when they heard the yelling and two civilians were running at them, one already holding a phone up to his ear. Tk gasped in pain as he was dropped suddenly, regaining enough momentum to crawl to Carlos. The girl had already removed her overshirt, trying to stop the bleeding. He cradled Carlos’ head to his chest, wincing when he felt the wet blood although he didn’t know whose._

_“Baby? Carlos baby can you hear me?” He heard the man telling him the ambulance was on the way but he couldn’t just leave him like that, so ignoring his boyfriends blood seeping into his clothes TK started doing chest compressions, begging Carlos to wake up._

Tk woke up with a gasp, hitting his head on Judd’s chin, making both men groan. “Ow! What’d you do that for?” He tried apologizing, but his mouth wouldn’t move and he could still taste his own blood in his mouth, could still feel Carlos’ blood between his fingers and he felt like he was choking. 

The nurses staring wasn’t helping and he felt his breathing get faster when suddenly there was a wall between him and the prying eyes. His mom, Marjan, and Andrea stood in front of him while Judd just held him to his chest. He managed to calm himself down, groaning in embarrassment when Judd kissed his head. 

He didn’t complain though, when Judd pulled him into a hug, whispering in his ear. “Grace told me why you don’t wanna be alone, so you’ve got bench buddies coming in shifts until you can see your boy.” He nodded in thanks, whispering a goodbye to a sleepy Grace as Andrea and his mother too their spots with Marjan on his other side. 

“Paul, Probie, Judd and your dad have a shift today but at least one of us is off the next few days and you of course are still on medical leave from getting yourself kidnapped.” She tried to make light of the situation and he offered her a smile in return, laying his head on his mom’s shoulder. 

He was out again before he even realized. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Gwen just watched her son breathe, her heart breaking for him. “He really loves my son.” She looked up and found Andrea smiling at TKs sleeping form, a smile only a mother knows how to give. 

“Yeah, he really does. I’ve seen TK with his other boyfriends but he never looked at them like he does Carlos.” Andrea nodded, hearing Marjan snort from beside them. 

“You should have seen TK after his first re-date with Carlos.” Gwen and Andrea turned, waiting for her to continue. 

“Ok so we all know they didn’t start off on a good foot for reasons I’ll let them disclose, but right after TK got shot Carlos came and picked TK up one night from the firehouse and took him to go watch the northern lights. Tk called me when he got home and he literally squealed yall. He spent three hours telling how pretty Carlos was, how funny, how smart.It was adorable.” Andrea laughed, while Gwen grinned at her son’s antics. 

“I didn’t know they were together until we ran into them at the farmer’s market a little while ago.” Andrea said, and Gwen couldn’t help but give her a sympathetic smile. She knows it’s hard having your children keep secrets from you. 

“He introduced TK as his friend and I’d just assumed TK wasn’t out yet, but Gabriel says Carlos was frantic about finding TK.” Gwen nodded, taking the woman’s hand. 

“Yeah Owen said the same thing, that Carlos wouldn’t stop until he found TK. It’s a strong love they have.” 

When Andrea looked back at her, eyes still flickering down to TK every few moments, she knew the other woman understood completely. 

“That’s what scares me.” 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Owen and Gabriel arrived just moments before the nurse came by, asking for Carlos’ emergency contact. He watched as Gabriel and Andrea moved forward, only to stop when she looked back down at her clipboard. 

“It says here his emergency contact and Power of Attorney is Tyler Kennedy Strand?” Tk stood up, hand raised as the nurse pulled him away for a moment, having him sign forms. 

“I didn’t know he changed all that.” Gabriel murmured, just watching TK and the nurse. Owen didn’t know what to say but Marjan offered an explanation on her way out the door. 

“They changed it after the kidnapping. They didn’t want to make their parents make that tough decision if anything happened. Probie is my POA, I’m Paul’s, and Paul is Probie’s.” She shrugged as if it was the smartest decision they could come up with, and turned to leave, Gwen following her. 

They didn’t have time to comment on that because TK came back, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

“They did surgery to repair the stab wounds but they needed to know if he was going to be doing in home physical therapy or going to a facility. I said we could do in-home. The nurse said that they’re bringing him to a room in just a minute, but only three visitors are allowed.” All eyes turned to Owen, and he chuckled, holding his hand up in surrender. 

“I am more than happy to wait and let you in first.” Gabriel and Andrea nodded their heads in thanks and TK just smiled at him. His son looked exhausted but it didn’t matter whether or not he went home, he wouldn’t be sleeping until he saw Carlos. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Gabriel and Andrea had to practically jog to keep up with an over eager TK and the nurse on their way to Carlos’ room. The young man hadn’t sat still since the nurse first told them they could see Carlos soon. 

Upon arriving to the room, Gabriel half wanted to turn around and leave again. His son was covered in bruises and bandages and looked so pale. He was supposed to be a vibrant man, so smart and always smiling and it broke his heart seeing him looking so small in that hospital bed. 

He crouched next to the chair Andrea was in, grabbing his son’s hand. “Oh mijo. I’m so sorry.” With his wife crying beside him and TK grasping Carlos other hand on the opposite side of the bed, Gabriel couldn’t help but let out a few tears. He was angry, worried, relieved that Carlos was ok and terrified that his worst nightmare about having gay son in Texas came true. He’d prayed for years that something like this wouldn’t happen and part of him blamed himself for not talking about any of this with Carlos back when he first came out to them. 

Andrea was praying beside him, the hand not on their son’s arm holding his tightly. Tk didn’t pay them any mind, just lying his cheek against Carlos leg and whispering. “Come back to me baby. Please.” 

-.-.-.-.-.-

The first thing Carlos felt upon waking up was weight on his thigh. It took him a moment to get his brain to tell his eyes to open and another to get used to the bright lights. Turning his head, he noticed Tk gripping his left hand, his head propped up on the man’s thigh and sound asleep. His whole body hurt so the most he could do was whisper and wiggle his hand.

“Tk, baby, wake up.” The younger man startled awake, jumping up when he realized it was Carlos talking to him. 

“You’re awake! Oh god let me get the nurse.” He half expected him to run off and tightened his grip, but TK just leaned over him and pressed the call button. 

“Are you ok? Are you in any pain?” He just shook his head, watching Tk. He remembered most of what happened, blacking out when some girl put a shirt over his wounds. “Yeah, my stomach just hurts.” Tk nodded, kissing himas the nurse came in. She was a short chubby lady with blonde hair and purple glasses.

“Hello Mr Reyes, so happy to see you awake! How ya feelin hun?” Carlos just shrugged. 

“My stomach hurts and so does my ribs. The rest of me just aches.” She nodded, writing all that down and adjusting her glasses. 

“Yeah you suffered some pretty nasty stab wounds and you did have a rib broken from the chest compressions but that’s normal. Your boyfriend here actually saved your life.” She said it so nicely, trying to get TK brownie points but Carlos froze. All he could think about was TK being the one trying to stop the bleeding and doing chest compressions until help arrived, all while being injured himself.

“You did chest compressions on me?” The nurse quickly made an exit, promising to come back later but Carlos couldn’t take his eyes off TK. 

“I had to, you were going to die.” There wasn’t much to say to that, so he just cupped TKs face in his hand, tears filling his own eyes when TK leaned into it. 

“Babe, I’m so sorry you had to do that.” Tk just shrugged, kissing Carlos palm. 

“You told me I’m not allowed to die on you so, right back at ya mister.” Carlos giggled, pulling at the back of TKs head, pulling him in for a kiss. 

“I love you Tyler Kennedy.”

“I love you too Carlos.” 


End file.
